DRC says Middle East conflict won't derail copper and cobalt supply

The Democratic Republic of Congo says it expects no major disruption to copper and cobalt production despite supply-chain pressures linked to the Middle East conflict, seeking to reassure global manufacturers reliant on Congolese critical minerals.

Officials said long-term supply contracts and strategic inventories had shielded Congolese miners from the worst of the sulphuric acid shortages that had rattled leach-copper operations from Katanga to Chile since the Iran war disrupted Gulf sulphur exports earlier in the year. The world's largest cobalt producer exported nearly 824,000 tonnes of copper in the first quarter, while cobalt exports surged 24.5%.

Confidence amid a genuine risk

The reassurance came even as consultancies including Wood Mackenzie and the International Energy Agency had separately warned that the DRC's heavy reliance on acid-leaching left it structurally exposed to exactly this kind of shock, with roughly 45% of national copper output dependent on sulphuric acid. Congolese officials' more confident public tone suggested either that major operators had indeed secured sufficient acid supply through advance contracting, or that the government was keen to avoid the reputational and market damage of appearing vulnerable during an already turbulent year for its mining sector.

A calculated message

The update was likely to reassure global battery, electric-vehicle and technology manufacturers that rely on Congolese critical minerals, at a moment when automakers were also facing separate scrutiny over pollution linked to their cobalt supply chains. For a country whose economy depends overwhelmingly on a handful of large copper-cobalt mines, projecting stability to international buyers and investors carried its own economic value, regardless of how the acid market ultimately played out over the rest of the year. The first-quarter export figures also gave Kinshasa a strong statistic to cite in its ongoing negotiations with Washington over an expanded critical-minerals partnership, reinforcing the message that the DRC remained a reliable supplier even amid global turbulence.

Sources

• Business Insider Africa: The country behind over 70% of the world's cobalt says Middle East conflict won't derail critical mineral supplies, 06 Jul 2026

Photo: Malachite copper ore from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Miguel Calvo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.